• US Vice President JD Vance says all options remain on the table against Iran and rules out talks unless Tehran halts commercial shipping attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.
• Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref threatens an “asymmetrical” and “multi-layered” response to US attacks.
• Iranian Minister of Petroleum Mohsen Paknejad stated that the country’s oil industry continues to “circumvent” the blockade imposed by US forces, describing the situation as difficult but manageable.
• The death toll from the US attack on an Iranian wedding party in the city of Sirik has risen to five.

EU joins US economic pressure campaign against Iran, Bessent says

The European Union has officially joined the US’s economic pressure campaign, “Operation Economic Outcast”, against Iran, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.

In a post on X, Bessent wrote that Washington “appreciate their strong and early stance”.

“The United States stands firm with our allies in ensuring the murderous Iranian regime cannot exploit the global financial system to fund its nuclear ambitions, weapons programs, and terror proxies,” he said.

“The world is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime: We will not stop until every remaining financial lifeline has been severed.”

Late last month, the EU noted in a statement that it would “work closely with the United States and other G7 and international partners to maintain pressure on Iran and contribute to de-escalation and regional stability”.

Doubt cast on Bessent’s claim that EU has joined US economic campaign against Iran

Reports suggest that the European Union has only endorsed Washington’s economic campaign against Iran and is yet to officially join, despite the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying it already has.

“The EU welcomes efforts at ensuring that Iran ceases its destabilizing activities and engages in peace negotiations with good faith, also through additional economic pressure, including through the US led Operation Economic Outcast,” said a statement on Monday.

On Thursday evening, Bessent thanked the EU for joining the economic campaign, saying that the world was “sending a clear message to Iran”.

However, the statement from the EU doesn’t clearly say that, but does state that the bloc remains “ready to take further measures, where necessary, to safeguard its security and interests”.

Oil prices climb towards weekly highs amid US-Iran hostilities

Oil prices increased on Friday and are on track for their steepest weekly gain since mid-July, with Brent crude futures gaining 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, to reach $95.67 a barrel as of 01:00 GMT.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went up 26 cents, or 0.3 percent, to trade at $91.56.

The gains come as rising tensions and renewed US-Iran hostilities heighten concerns over Middle East supply risks, according to the Reuters news agency.

Over the past week, Brent increased 7.1 percent while WTI went up 9.8 percent, setting up the highest gains since the week ending on July 20.

Seoul weighs military measures for Strait of Hormuz navigation

South Korea is reviewing practical options, including military measures, for supporting freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and claims that Seoul had provided no assistance on the issue were “not true”, a presidential Blue House official has said.

Reuters quoted the official as saying that South Korea-US security talks were “not currently progressing” and semiconductors were among the issues under discussion between the allies.

Oil isn't going through Hormuz the way US claims.

The United States and Iran continue to make competing claims about who has greater control of the critical Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.

Washington insists the strait remains open, with dozens of vessels transporting millions of barrels of crude daily.

Last month, US President Donald Trump claimed “total control” over the corridor, a route that normally carries a fifth of global petroleum and gas supplies in peacetime.

Yet the passage has stayed shut since the joint US-Israel war on Iran erupted six months ago.

Tehran maintains it commands the waterway, keeping it shut to all but pre-cleared ships navigating prescribed lanes. Any unauthorized traffic, it cautions, remains liable to attack.

Only four vessels cross Strait of Hormuz on Thursday

Strait of Hormuz shipping traffic has remained low, holding below normal levels, according to preliminary tracking data.

Shipping data compiled by Kpler and cited by Reuters showed that four commodity shipping vessels crossed the waterway yesterday, Thursday, down from nine vessels the previous day, and well below the 10-day average of about 15 vessels.

The data indicated that the vessels included two medium-range tankers, a Kamsarmax tanker, and a Handysize vessel as of 04:55 GMT.

The total count of crossing vessels may change, as some ships turn off their transponders while sailing.

China’s oil reserves and Moscow ties helped insulate Beijing from Hormuz crisis, says Russian energy boss

China has been able to protect itself from the energy crisis caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its oil reserves and cooperation with Moscow, says the head of Russia’s largest oil company Rosneft.

Igor ⁠Sechin’s comments came as Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Beijing will account for more than 60 percent of the country’s gas exports by the end of the decade.

China has been the largest buyer of Russian energy since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"February 2022"

The Russian war in Ukraine is like the war Netanyahu waged in the same month but in 2026.

Netanyahu started the war on June 13, 2025 then ceased to prepare to attack Iran in February 2026 again. So, we're speaking about a resumption of his war.

Putin started his war on Ukraine in February 24, 2014. However, Russia never declares war and never declares war as ended. So, Putin's current war is somewhat like Netanyahu's war: a resumption. Because in February 2022, it was about a reinvasion.

Trump calls media ‘treasonous scum’ over reports of low Iran war munitions

US President Trump has again pushed back on media reports detailing dangerously low munitions stockpiles as the US-Israel war on Iran stretches into its seventh month.

In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump said the military was producing munitions at “levels never seen before” and has “far more than we could ever use”.

He also again took aim at media outlets that have reported on US shortages of both offensive and defensive weapons, calling them “treasonous scum” who refuse to “accurately report” on the war on Iran.

The comments are the latest swipe by the US president against critical media coverage of what experts call troubling shortages.

This is frankly admitting that the US really have a serious shortage of munitions, which has already been reported in the first week of last March. However, that report was widely ignored.

Iran may trigger conflict before midterms to damage Trump: Trita Parsi

With US midterm elections looming and oil prices hovering at about $97 a barrel, questions remain over Washington’s strategy in the Strait of Hormuz and its conflict with Iran.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft said the US is “overstating” its success in stabilising shipping through the strait, while acknowledging that US escorts are helping more vessels pass through.

He warned Iran may seek to trigger conflict before the midterms to damage President Trump politically, but said a “humiliated” Trump after the elections could become “much more desperate and reckless”, increasing the risk of further escalation.

Iranian wedding deaths likely caused by US strike, Reuters’ analysis finds

A missile that struck a wedding in Iran, killing four people including two children, was likely fired by the US, according to a Reuters analysis.

The attack occurred on Tuesday in the southern Iranian city of Kuhestak, also injuring 68 people.

Reuters spoke with weapons experts who reviewed images and video verified by the news agency. Three of the four experts stated it was unlikely the deaths resulted from a stray Iranian missile.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei denounced the attack as a war crime.

Iran’s blacklist on who can pass through the Strait of Hormuz grows after latest US attacks

The US vice president said Washington will not return to talks with Iran unless Tehran stops attacking commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. On the other hand, Iran’s vice president said it will not simply absorb the latest attack, but will respond in an asymmetrical and multi-layered format. So they basically mean “we have changed our offensive strategy and the Strait of Hormuz remains central to all these military strikes and diplomacy talks”.

Even though passage through the Strait of Hormuz is below average, and Donald Trump said there is no problem, the Iranians are saying oil transfers continued without interruption during four days of attacks and counterattacks.

There are reports suggesting that Iraqi commercial vessels are able to pass through the strait with much less difficulty than Gulf tankers. Apparently, the Iranians are following a strategy to allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz in a selective manner. Iran has updated its blacklist on vessels to more than 50. So basically, Tehran is saying, “I’m going to allow whoever I want to pass through the strait, and the conditions which were valid during the tough times are becoming a de facto reality of the region.”

"..reports suggesting.."

On August 22, 2026, Iran had decided to let Iraqi oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz because Baghdad has “always stood up to the United States”.

Head of Iranian judiciary expresses interest in deepening ties with China during meeting in India

Iran’s judiciary chief says the country is “determined” to expand ties with China, including in legal and judicial fields.

Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei is currently at a meeting in New Delhi arranged by the BRICS group for judicial leaders. He met Zhang Jun, president of China’s Supreme People’s Court, on the sidelines.

“China and Iran have extensive and strong relations, and we are determined to expand our ties with China,” he said.

Beijing is a key ally for Tehran and buys the majority of its oil, providing Iran with a key economic lifeline as it grapples with an economic crisis caused by decades of sanctions and the ongoing conflict with the US.

“Despite all the regional and international ups and downs, China and Iran have always maintained healthy and stable relations, always helped and cooperated with each other,” Zhang said.

Iran FM Araghchi’s posts sarcastic reply to Jordan counterpart

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has questioned his Jordanian counterpart, accusing the country of not respecting Iranian or Arab sovereignty.

In a post on X, Araghchi sarcastically asked Ayman Safadi how long Tehran has to wait before responding to US attacks facilitated or launched from American bases in Middle Eastern countries, including Jordan. He was responding to a comment by Safadi, who said that Iran’s swift attacks on Arab countries following US strikes were too quick to be classed as retaliatory and were part of a premeditated policy.

Araghchi also alleged that US attacks responsible for the deaths of Iranian civilians were launched from Arab countries.

"Safadi, who said that Iran’s swift attacks on Arab countries following US strikes were too quick to be classed as retaliatory and were part of a premeditated policy."

The Jordanian foreign minister clearly tries to put the blame on Iran, while Jordan is a co-belligerent, as it contributes to Trump's violation of the UN Charter and international law by allowing preparatory and combat activities. US JSF F-35 fighter jets, E-3 Sentry early warning systems, and refuel tankers are operating from Jordan. 

Yes, Iran has the right to consider Jordan a military objective.

Iran is ‘ready for any confrontation,’ air defence commander says

Iran’s joint air defence commander Brigadier General Alireza Elhami has said that Iran is “ready for any kind of confrontation,” today and in the future because “the threat is not over,” Fars news agency reports.

He said that Iran’s air defence has “achieved complete self-sufficiency” and that the country has presented “a new definition of national power” to the world.

Share Iran is ‘ready for any confrontation,’ air defence commander says on social media

Former US diplomat warns of potential ‘spectacular attack’ by Iran within the next six weeks

The former US ambassador to Tunisia, Joey Hood, has warned that Iran could be preparing a “spectacular attack” within the next six weeks.

Hood said: “They [Iran] have a history of trying to humiliate US presidents, especially around election time, from Jimmy Carter all the way up until the recent past.

“Both US and Israeli elections are happening at the same time. It’s an overwhelming temptation for Iran to try to drive up gasoline prices in the United States. Especially knowing that American voters are very sensitive to gasoline prices, much like Arab voters are very sensitive to bread prices.”

Hood said there is a stalemate in diplomacy between the US and Israel and an element of surprise was needed to drive negotiations forward.

“I think [diplomatic efforts] are really moot unless there is something equally spectacular from the mediators,” he said.

“Such as the Mecca agreement countries coming in with their naval assets to the Gulf and the northern Arabian Sea and saying, ‘I will monitor the Strait. No more shooting at ships. No more need for a naval blockade from the United States.'”

US midterms could be a pivotal moment

The US midterm elections on November 3 could prove a pivotal moment in the war, as senior advisers to President Donald Trump seek to prevent the conflict from returning to all-out war.

The midterms will determine whether the Republican Party can retain its narrow control of Congress. If the war escalates again before then, that could persuade more people to vote against the Trump administration.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the US-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Al Jazeera that this week’s attacks point to a US strategy that remains deeply unsettled.

“I think it’s quite likely that what we’re seeing right now is just complete military, strategic disarray on the American position in which the positions, the actions, the tactics, the strategies keep on getting changed,” Parsi said.

Head of Iran’s Basij says US must return to MoU

The head of Iran’s Basij militia says that the US must return to the memorandum of understanding if diplomatic efforts to end the war are to resume.

“The United States must comply with the conditions in the memorandum of understanding,” Hossein Taeb said.

The head of the voluntary militia warned that Washington had “no choice but to bow” to Iran and added that Tehran had “never asked for a ceasefire or negotiations”.

Washington targets Turkiye-based bank in latest Iran-related sanctions

The United States Treasury Department has sanctioned three Turkiye-based financial entities as part of the Trump administration’s campaign to increase economic pressure on Tehran.

Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi (Golden Global Bank) and its subsidiaries “have facilitated tens of millions of dollars’ worth of transactions for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force”, the Treasury alleged, and aid Iran’s government by allowing it access to banks that let it move funds internationally.

It said the bank “was established for the purpose of enabling Iran’s rahbar network [a hidden shadow banking system] to transfer oil revenues from China to Turkey, where it could then be converted to cash and gold by rahbar money exchangers.”

In a quote on the department’s website, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US was “serious” about sanctioning financial institutions supporting the “murderous Iranian regime.”

Turkish bank threatens legal action against the US over Iran-related sanctions

The Turkey-based investment bank accused by the United States of aiding Iran said it would take legal action against the move, according to a Reuters news agency report.

As we reported earlier, the US Treasury Department blacklisted Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi (Golden Global Bank) and two of its subsidiaries, accusing them of facilitating “tens of millions of dollars’ worth of transactions for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force”, and aiding Iran’s government by allowing it access to banks that let it move funds internationally.

Turkish Golden Global said individuals and entities named in the US Office of Financial Assets Control (OFAC) decision are “not customers of the bank” and have made “no direct or indirect business transactions with them”.

Further, the bank said it had fulfilled all requirements regarding local and international banking rules and compliance standards, according to Reuters.

The sanctions put all three entities on the Treasury’s OFAC Specially Designated Nationals list, cutting them off from the dollar-based financial system. The Treasury Department also issued a general licence to allow the wind-down of transactions with the sanctioned entities.

In a quote on the department’s website, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US was “serious” about sanctioning financial institutions supporting the “murderous Iranian regime”.

Diesel prices in US rise to record high as Iran war disrupts fuel supplies

The average price of diesel in the United States has increased by more than two -dollars per gallon (3.8 liters) in the past 12 months, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

The AAA said drivers paid around $3.71 per gallon a year ago. On Friday, prices rose to $5.85 a gallon, the highest average since the association started monitoring prices in the 1970s.

Farmers rely on diesel to run equipment and it also powers the trucks needed to transport food to supermarkets.

American farmers are also grappling with rising fertilizer prices which is having a follow on effect on consumers.

The Independent Grocers Alliance estimates that fuel-related costs can account for 15 to 30 percent of the total cost for some food products.

Prices at the pump have surged since the Iran conflict started in February, after Tehran retaliated by blocking the Strait of Hormuz and oil and gas exports.

Global oil prices have remained high since and rose further this week due to an escalation in US and Iranian attacks.

‘The Iranian people do not trust the Americans’

Prospects for a genuine diplomatic track between Washington and Tehran remain deeply uncertain in the aftermath of the recent conflict, according to Mohammad Eslami, research fellow in Middle East and North Africa studies at the University of Tehran.

“There’s a real question if the parties, Iran, the United States, and even other parties, have the capability to continue a true diplomatic settlement of this crisis,” Eslami said, saying that “both countries are very engaged in their domestic politics,” with the American administration “thinking about the midterm election” and, for some officials, “the next presidential election.”

He said Iranian public opinion has become a central factor shaping the conflict’s trajectory, saying that Washington “tried to manipulate” domestic sentiment around its role and objectives before and during the war.

“The Iranian public is thinking about the track record of war crimes by the Americans not only [in Iran], but also in Afghanistan and Iraq, all around this region,” he said. “The Iranian people do not trust the Americans.”

US and allies to report Iran to UN nuclear watchdog

The US, Britain, France and Germany are lobbying countries on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board to pass a resolution against Iran next week.

That’s according to Reuters.

The resolution would serve to report Iran to the UN Security Council as violating its nuclear obligations.

An earlier resolution adopted in June 2025 already declared Iran was in breach of its obligations by not cooperating fully with investigations into uranium traces found at undeclared sites.

As a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran cannot develop nuclear weapons, and Tehran has repeatedly said it is not doing so.

Iran has, however, not let IAEA staff inspect its uranium facilities bombed by the US and Israel since the start of the war in February, according to Reuters.

Iran blasts ‘desperate’ US, E3 move to refer nuclear issue to UN Security Council

Iran has criticized a bid by the US and three of its European allies to prompt the UN nuclear watchdog to refer Tehran to the UN Security Council, saying the move is bound to fail.

“This move is a clear sign of the complete failure of the ‘snapback’ illusion”, Iran’s mission to the UN in Vienna said in a statement on Friday, referring to international sanctions on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program.

“Their new desperate action will bring them no benefit either, and they won’t gain anything out of it.”

The US and its allies – the UK, France and Germany – are pressing UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) member states to pass ⁠a resolution next week reporting Iran to the UN Security Council for the first time in 20 years, diplomats said earlier today. The IAEA this week reiterated its call for access to Iran’s nuclear sites.

Trump says Democrats want US to lose war on Iran

President Trump has accused Democrats of wanting the US to lose the war on Iran.

The political left would prefer such a scenario to the White House winning “the war for America”, he added.

Because of the US-Israel war on Iran, Trump’s Republican Party is heading into November midterms amid high food and petrol prices.

A Pew Research poll last month showed approval ratings for Trump fell to 34 percent, with most Americans also voicing their disapproval of the war.

‘We can see 40–50 dollar crude’, says US Treasury Secretary

The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is predicting an oversupply of crude oil in the global market which might bring the price down to $40 per barrel.

“I actually think we are going to be very much oversupplied in the oil market after this. We can see $40–50 crude maybe,” Bessent told Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast.

He also said that the US is escalating sanctions on banks still trading with Iran as part of new measures imposed by the Trump administration.

“We have sanctioned another bank tied to Iran. Last week, we sanctioned an Egyptian bank with five Dubai branches that gave the regime $1.8 billion. We’ll sanction another bank today and we will probably sanction another bank next week. We know who the bad actors are. You know who you are. It’s over”, he warned.

Qatar rejects Iranian claims that Ras Laffan strike ‘did not occur’

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry has rejected Iranian assertions that the March 18 strike on the Ras Laffan gas facility did not happen, saying the claim relies on a selectively quoted technical document rather than Doha’s official record submitted to the United Nations.

Spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said in a statement posted on X that Qatar had repeatedly documented Iranian attacks on its territory in official letters to the UN. He said a March 1 letter recorded earlier missile attacks on civilian, commercial and residential areas that injured 16 people, while the March 18 Ras Laffan attack was documented separately in letter S/2026/207. A July 20 letter documented further attacks that injured three people, including a child.

Al-Ansari said the document Iran has cited is a “safety and security risk assessment” prepared for the International Telecommunication Union’s Plenipotentiary Conference, calling it “neither a comprehensive record of the facts nor a legal assessment thereof”. He said the document, taken in full, “acknowledges direct attacks occurring within the territory of the State of Qatar, including the 18 March attack on the gas facilities at Ras Laffan”.

Al-Ansari said Qatar’s interception of the missiles and drones “does not diminish the gravity of these attacks or absolve their perpetrators of responsibility,” and rejected characterizations of the strikes or of “destabilising acts in the Strait of Hormuz” as legitimate responses.

He said Qatar, which is “not a party to this conflict,” will continue pursuing de-escalation through diplomatic channels.

Iran’s parliament speaker backs China’s call for new defence order in Middle East

Iran’s parliament speaker and China envoy Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has praised China’s call for a new security architecture in the Middle East.

China’s President Xi Jinping made the proposal on a rare state visit to Egypt on Wednesday, where he stated Beijing’s readiness to support security arrangements that shun “external interference”.

Xi said such an arrangement should be based on the UN Charter and international law.

“China’s emphasis on fostering common security reflects a principle Iran has long championed,” Ghalibaf said in a statement on X, adding that the region should take matters into its “own hands”.

Trump says US may hit Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain ‘soon’

President Trump has said the US may hit Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain “very soon.”

He was speaking to reporters at the White House.

Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, located near the heavily damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility, is a heavily fortified site that hosts two deeply buried tunnel complexes.

US State Department says Washington will continue economic pressure on Iran

US State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott has said Washington “remains committed” to cutting off Iran’s access to the global finance system and preventing Tehran from “threatening” regional stability.

The statement comes hours after the Treasury Department added Turkiye’s Golden Global Bank to a long list of sanctioned entities it says are working with Iran.

“This action sends a clear message to financial institutions worldwide: facilitating Iran’s illicit financial activity carries serious consequences,” Pigott said.

War damage, not sanctions, is affecting Iran’s economy, academic says

Iran’s economic hardship stems primarily from wartime damage to infrastructure and a US naval blockade on oil exports, rather than from recent US Treasury sanctions, according to Mohammad Eslami, a research fellow in Middle East and North Africa studies at the University of Tehran.

“Legally speaking, they don’t have anything new regarding putting sanctions on Iranians,” he said, noting that Washington is mainly adding foreign banks and entities to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list rather than introducing new sanctions.

Asked who Iranians hold responsible for the economic strain, Eslami said: “It’s not because of the US sanctions; it’s because of US war crimes during the attacks on Iran, attacking infrastructure, attacking gas fields and oilfields during the 40-days war,” he said, adding that a US naval blockade has further squeezed Iran’s oil export revenue, including sales to China.

“It doesn’t mean that the Iranian economy is in a kind of free fall. We have had inflation for more than five decades.”

The US is trying to downplay the Iran war

US officials deny that this is a war. US President Donald Trump just now called the Iran war “small potatoes” in the White House Oval Office.

He contrasted the number of US personnel killed in this conflict so far – 18 and counting – with the Vietnam War which killed tens of thousands of troops. That’s why he believes it is not yet a significant conflict constituting a full-fledged war.

What we know is that the US president is saying the US is in full control and that it understands the actions and movements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the IRGC.

We did see evidence of that earlier this week when the US attacked Larak Island and launchers the US alleged Iran was loading with mines to fire into the Strait of Hormuz.

The goal for the US is to keep freedom of navigation open and also protect US interests in the region. But what we also know is that, in terms of trying to end the conflict, there is now a precondition on the part of the US. JD Vance, the vice president, said earlier that there will be no talks to end this conflict until Iran stops shooting at commercial ships.

Ban on English proficiency certification for Iranians slammed

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) has condemned the decision by language certification group Pearson PLC and Pearson VUE to block Iranians from taking English proficiency exams required for international study, after the suspension of a US sanctions exemption.

In a statement, NIAC President Jamal Abdi said that while the Trump Administration’s decision to target students in Iran was “draconian”, “Pearson appears to be going even further than the law requires by punishing Iranians who are not even in Iran.”

Last week, Educational Testing Service and Duolingo announced they would also block English proficiency certifications for Iranian nationals.

“This appears to be sanctions overcompliance that is inflicting serious harms on innocent people. Pearson should immediately reinstate these tests for Iranians outside of Iran, and Treasury must provide far more clarity and reassurance about what is and is not sanctionable.“

Iran will conduct ‘preemptive operations’ against threats, army spokesperson says

Brigadier-General Mohammad Akrami Nia, the spokesperson of the Iranian army, signaled a shift in the country’s military doctrine, in comments carried to Iran’s state-run broadcaster IRIB, saying, “Wherever we perceive a threat, we will conduct preemptive operations”.

“Our military doctrine has shifted toward preemptive defense and deterrent operations,” Nia said.

US Senator Sanders slams VP Vance over Iran ‘not a war’ comment

US Senator Bernie Sanders has slammed comments by Vice President JD Vance describing the US conflict with Iran as not a war.

Vance was answering a question on the Trump administration’s characterization of its conflict with Iran as less than a war, which is restricting compensation for families of American service members killed in the conflict.

Sanders posted on X, “JD Vance said what’s happening in Iran is not a ‘war.’ Please explain that to the families of the 19 US service members who lost their lives or the thousands of people who have been killed across the region”.

On Friday, President Trump said the Iran conflict, which has killed 18 US service members and injured hundreds more, is “small potatoes”.

".. what’s happening in Iran is not a ‘war.’ "

On February 28th, Trump had declared war on Iran after Netanyahu promised him that the war would bring the Iranian regime to collapse.

Trump has not declared the war ended.

Trump calls Iran war ‘small potatoes’, compares US deaths with Vietnam war

US President Donald Trump called the war with Iran “small potatoes”, saying just 18 Americans had been killed compared with 100,000 in Vietnam. He called US strikes “intermittent” and threatened to attack Pickaxe Mountain, whose tunnels are said to hold Iran’s enriched uranium.

Erdogan tells UAE’s president Turkiye seeks end to Iran-US tensions

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has discussed bilateral ties and regional tensions with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a phone call.

The two leaders reviewed cooperation across multiple sectors, with Erdogan saying defence and economic ties between the two countries will deepen significantly, according to a Turkish government statement.

Erdogan also addressed broader regional flashpoints, saying Turkey was striving to end Iran-US tensions and other conflicts in the region. He said Ankara’s peace-focused diplomatic initiatives would continue and that Turkey “never approves of attacks on brotherly countries” in the region.

Gulf states ‘started to lose confidence’ in US, but are not breaking defense partnerships

Gulf countries have intensified efforts to diversify their defence partnerships, but this is not a fundamental break with Washington, according to Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics.

“For a number of years – definitely going way back before late February – the Gulf Arab states started to lose confidence in the United States as a security guarantor,” Cafiero said. “There’s a greater urgency on the part of these governments to become more autonomous from Washington.”

“The GCC states are being very pragmatic. They understand that their defence ties with the United States are going to be important for a long time to come, but what they’re trying to do is turn to other countries: Turkiye, Pakistan, Ukraine, China, France, the UK.”

Still, he said Gulf states have no viable alternative.

“There’s no other power in the world that has the capacity and the willingness to replace the United States as a security guarantor,” he said. “They’re not trying to burn any bridges with Washington … but after the dust settles, it’s still going to be the United States that remains their primary security guarantor, even if they consider the US to be a very ineffective and unreliable one.”

US approves $5bn bomb sale to Saudi Arabia

The US has announced the approval of a $5bn sale of bombs, guidance kits and other equipment to Saudi Arabia, which has been repeatedly attacked during the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran.

“The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia’s airborne defense capability to counter current and future regional threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and improve interoperability with systems operated by US forces and other Gulf region partners,” the US State Department said in a statement.

The sale will also “support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a Major non-NATO Ally”, the department said.

Saudi Arabia has been targeted with drone and missile strikes by Iranian forces and Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi rebels since the US and Israel launched their joint war on Iran in late February this year.

‘Do not let anyone turn your children into mercenaries for war of choice’: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman to US

Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, has targeted an opinion column in the Jerusalem Post, which argues for the US to use its students’ loans and financial debt to recruit them for war with Iran.

“Americans, ask yourselves one question: Why should your sons and daughters be offered debt forgiveness in exchange for fighting and dying in a war Israel wants continued & expanded?” he wrote in a post on X.

“Your lives. Your taxes. Someone else’s war,” he added. “Do not let anyone turn your children into mercenaries for their illegal ‘war of choice’.”

US diesel prices hits record high at $5.85 a gallon

Average US diesel prices have hit a record high amid increased global supply disruptions due to the renewed fighting in the Middle East and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

A gallon of diesel now costs $5.85 on average in the US, according to American Automobile Association data.

The price of diesel could rise even further due to the sharp drawdown in inventories and as agricultural states in various parts of the country head into harvesting and planting seasons.

Brent crude futures also settled at $92.68 a barrel, up 76 cents, or 0.8 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude futures finished at $91.48 a barrel, up 18 cents, or 0.20 percent.

For the week, Brent crude rose 7.6 percent while US crude gained nearly 10 percent, as supply routes in the Middle East remain impaired due to the war.